Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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INTERACTIVE TELEVISION APPLICATION SYSTEM
WITH HAND-HELD APPLICATION DEVICE
Background of the Invention
This invention relates to interactive
television application systems, and more particularly,
to interactive television application systems in which
television application functionality may be provided by
a hand-held device or coordinated between a hand-held
device and a user's television equipment.
Interactive television applications typically
run on a user's set-top box. Examples of interactive
television applications include interactive television
program guides, e-mail, home shopping, wagering and
other e-commerce applications, financial applications,
TV Web browsers, games, and other television based
applications. Running these applications typically
excludes other users from watching television other
than the application being viewed. In addition,
running such applications on a stationary platform on
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the set-top box prevents users from accessing the
features of such systems when away from~the stationary
platform. ~C
It is therefore an object of the present -
invention to provide an interactive television
application system having a hand-held application
device with display.
It is a further object of the present
.invention to coordinate interactive television
application functionality between an application
running on the-user's television equipment and an
.application running on a hand-held application device.
Summary of the Invention
These and other objects of the present .
invention are accomplished by providing a portable
hand-held application device with display as described, .
' for example, in Herrington et al. U.S. provisional.
patent application Serial No. 60/138,868, filed June
11, 1999, and Ellis U.S..provisional patent application
Serial No. 60/164,648, filed November 10, 1999, which
are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their
entireties. ,
The hand-held application device may be any
- suitable hand-held device, such as a display remote,
touch-screen remote, personal digital assistant (PDA),
ebook or other hand-held device. The hand-held
application device provides a user with access to. .
interactive television application functionality
remotely or while viewing a television progratn.~ In one
. 30 suitable approach, the hand-held application device may
run a client version of an interactive television -
application that requests application data from an
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application server running on the user's television
equipment. In another suitable approach, the hand-held
application device acts as an independent platform
running an interactive application that may run
independently and may communicate with a similar
interactive application running on the user's
television equipment. The hand-held application device
may provide, for example, a portable electronic program
guide including various features of interactive program
guides, Internet-based program guides, and printed
program guides.
Interactive television applications may
include, for example, applications that provide
information related to television programming or that
provide interactive features associated with television
programming, such as, for example, interactive
television program guides, home shopping applications,
wagering applications, e-mail, and financial trading
applications. Interactive television applications may
also include applications provided on user television
equipment.
The hand-held application device may be
offered to consumers for free or for a very low cost,
as it may be advertising supported. Screens or pages
displayed by the device may contain passive or
interactive advertisements. Providing the device at
low consumer price may allow the device to be
distributed in large volumes. This may increase the
value of the device to advertisers. Users of the
device may not have to live in a special area,
subscribe to any kind of digital cable or satellite
service, or have an Internet account, to use the device
if desired. Once a platform like this has been
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distributed, there will be continued opportunities for
growth. New software can be downloaded. It can
support future marketing opportunities, and it offers
the ability to add user features at a later date, as
either a free or pay upgrade.
The hand-held application device may be of a
size to fit in a pocket or purse. The device may have
a touch-screen LCD display, a two-way paging interface,
and may run on standard batteries. The paging
interface may continuously collect TV listing data and
store the data in local memory. It may also download
advertisements while the device is in normal use. This
may be done by for example buying time from a national
paging service.
The device may have a fold-down cover to
protect the display from damage or accidental
activation. Opening the cover automatically may turn
the device on and activate its display. The first
display may be, for example, a main menu, which may
include interactive advertisements. One of the items
on the menu may be a television guide. Selecting the
guide feature may bring up a guide main menu, display
of program listings or any other suitable guide
display. When a user select a listing, the device may
display a description of a program associated with the
listing. Advertisements may be programming related, in
which case selecting them may bring up more information
about a program, allow reminders to be set, or any
other suitable function. Advertisements for other
products may allow a user to get more information or
purchase a product.
The portable hand-held application device may
include many of the features of interactive program
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guides, such as listings by time, by channel, by
category, favorite channels or any other guide feature.
It may allow the user to set reminders and have them
appear on the device, with both an audio alert and a
display. Via a paging return, for example, the device
can be used to set reminders or schedule recordings
remotely. The portable device may be used for
collecting data. For example, it might be used to send
out surveys. It may also be used to collect audience
ratings information. With an appropriate point-of-
purchase device, for example, may be used to distribute
electronic coupons.
The device may also include an infra-red
emitter. This may allow a user to use the device as a
remote control to operate an interactive television
program guide on a television set and other home
entertainment. equipment. A paging system may be used,
for example, to upload device type information and
download infra-red codes. When used in this mode, keys
may be displayed on the device, and the user may touch
the screen to generate commands. The keys can be
context sensitive, where only the keys of interest are
displayed at any time.
The portable device may also offer other PDA-
type functions, perhaps at an additional cost. For
example, it may support e-mail, a calendar, a contact
list, web browsing, a calculator, or any other suitable
application. It may support data services, such as
news, weather, sports, traffic, or any other suitable
data service. It may be used as a pager. With
suitable hardware resources, the portable program guide
might include advanced communication functions. For
example, it might allow a user to remotely monitor the
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home equipment -- find out if the system is turned on,
what channel is on, etc. It might also allow a user to
listen to audio from a selected TV channel, or offer
audio channels. The portable device may also serve as
an ebook.
Further features of the invention, its nature
and various advantages will be more apparent from the
accompanying drawings, in which like reference
characters refer to like parts throughout, and the
following detailed description of the preferred
embodiments.
Description of the Drawings
FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of an
illustrative system in accordance with the present
invention;
FIGS. 2a-2f show illustrative arrangements
for the interactive television application equipment
and hand-held application device of FIG. 1, in
accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the hand-
held application device of FIG. 1, in accordance with
the present invention;
FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of the user
television equipment of FIGS. 2a-2f, in accordance with
the present invention;
FIG. 5 shows a more generalized schematic
view of the user television equipment of FIGS. 2a-2f,
in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 6 shows an illustrative menu screen in
accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 7 shows an illustrative browse display
in accordance with the present invention;
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FIG. 8 shows an illustrative information
screen in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 9 shows an illustrative pay-per-view
ordering screen in accordance with the present
invention;
FIG. 10 shows an illustrative remote screen
in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 11 shows an illustrative primary guide
main menu screen in accordance with the present
invention;
FIG. 12 shows an illustrative display of
program listings by time in accordance with the present
invention;
FIG. 13 shows an illustrative premiums screen
in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 14 shows an illustrative home page in
accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 15 shows an illustrative Editor's Picks
page. in accordance with the present invention;
FIGS. 16a and 16b show illustrative My TV
Listings pages in accordance with the present
invention;
FIG. 16c shows an illustrative page of
program listings by criteria in accordance with the
present invention;
FIG. 17 shows an illustrative about page in
accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 18 is a flowchart of illustrative steps
involved in providing interactive television and other
application features with the hand-held application
device of FIG. 1, in accordance with the present
invention;
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FIG. 19 a flowchart of illustrative steps
involved in coordinating features between primary
applications running within the interactive television
application equipment of FIG. 1 and supplemental
applications running on the hand-held access device of
FIG. l; and
FIG. 20 is a flowchart of illustrative steps
involved in providing interactive television program
guide functionality using the hand-held application
device of FIG. 1.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
An illustrative system 10 in accordance with
the principles of the present invention is shown in
FIG. 1. System 10 may include main facility 12. Main
facility 12 provides interactive television application
data from application data source 14 to interactive
television application equipment 17 via communications
link 18. There may be multiple main facilities 12 for
providing data for a number of applications, but only
one main facility 12 has been shown in FIG. 1 to avoid
over-complicating the drawing. There are preferably
numerous pieces or installations of interactive
television application equipment 17, each linked to
main facility 12 by a respective communications link 18
although only one such piece or installation of
interactive television application equipment 17 is
shown in FIG. 1 to avoid over-complicating the drawing.
Link 18 may be a satellite link, a telephone network
link, a cable or fiber optic link, a microwave link, an
Internet link, a digital subscriber line (DSL), a
combination of such links, or any other suitable
communications link. In another suitable approach,
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interactive television application data may be
generated by interactive television application
equipment 17, in which case main facility 12 may be
unnecessary. In still another suitable approach, main
facility 12 may provide interactive television
application data directly to hand-held application
device 24 via a suitable link (e.g., a two-way paging -
frequency link), in which case all or portions of
interactive television application equipment it may be
unnecessary. For the purposes of clarity, the
remaining discussion will describe an approach in which
main facility 12 provides interactive television
application data to one or more interactive television
application equipments 17.
The interactive television application data
transmitted by main facility 12 to interactive
television application equipment 17 may include any
data suitable for the application supported by main
facility 12. If main facility 12 provides interactive
television program guide data, for example, the data
may include television programming data (e. g., program
identifiers, times, channels, titles, and descriptions)
and other data for services other than television
program listings (e. g., help text, pay-per-view
information, weather information, sports information,
music channel information, associated Internet Web
links, associated software, etc.). Interactive
television program guide data may also include unique
identifiers for each showing of each program,
identifiers for program groupings (e. g., series, mini-
series, orderable packages of programs, network
lineups, etc.), or any other suitable identifier.
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Interactive television applications may be
implemented on interactive television application
equipment 17 and hand-held application device 24. As
used herein, a "primary" application is intended to
mean an interactive application that runs on
interactive television application equipment 17. A
primary application may be a server application that
provides application data to hand-held application
device 24 in response to one or more application
communications, or may be a version of an application
that works cooperatively with a version of the
application that runs on hand-held application device
24. As used herein, a "secondary" application is
intended to mean an interactive application that runs
on hand-held application device 24. A secondary
application may be a client application that obtains
data from a primary application, or may be a version of
an interactive application that runs cooperatively with
a primary application and that obtains application data
from main facility 12.
The primary and secondary applications may
communicate by exchanging one or more application
communications. Application communications may include
any client-server or peer-to-peer communication
construct suitable for exchanging interactive
application data or other data (such as digital frames
for display by hand-held application device 24) between
the primary and secondary applications via
communications link 19. Application communications may
include, for example, requests, commands, messages, or
remote procedure calls.
Application communications may also involve
complex communications between application constructs
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running on hand-held application device 24 and
interactive television application equipment 17.
Application communications may, for example, be object
based. Objects running in the primary and secondary
guides, for example, may communicate using an Object
Request Broker (ORB). Interactive application data
may, for example, be encapsulated as component object
model (COM) objects and persisted to a stream that is
transmitted over communications link 19. Application
communications may also include, for example, HTML
formatted markup language documents (e. g., Web pages),
that are exchanged between hand-held application device
24 and an Internet service system.
Six illustrative arrangements for interactive
television application equipment 17 and hand-held
application device 24 are shown in FIGS. 2a-2f. As
shown, interactive television application equipment 17
may include distribution equipment 21 located at
application distribution facility 16, and user
television equipment 22. The primary application may
run totally on user television equipment 22 using the
arrangements of FIGS. 2a and 2b, or may run partially
on user television equipment 22 and partially on
application server 25 or Internet service system 61
using a suitable client-server or distributed
processing arrangement such as shown in FIGS. 2c, 2d,
2e, and 2f. Application distribution facility 16 may
be any suitable distribution facility, and may have
distribution equipment 21.
Distribution equipment 21 of FIGS. 2a, 2b,
2c, 2d, 2e, and 2f is equipment suitable for providing
interactive television application data to user
television equipment 22 over communications link 20.
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Distribution equipment 21 may include, for example,
suitable transmission hardware for distributing
interactive television application data on a television
channel sideband, in the vertical blanking interval of
a television channel, using an in-band digital signal,
using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other
suitable data transmission technique. Analog or
digital video signals (e. g., television programs) from
television distribution facility 29 may also be
distributed by distribution equipment 21 to user
television equipment 22 over communications link 20 on
multiple television channels. Alternatively, videos
may be distributed to user television equipment 22 from
television distribution facility 29 to user television
equipment 22 directly. Television distribution
facility 29 may be any suitable distribution facility
(e. g., a cable system headend, a broadcast distribution
facility, a satellite television distribution facility,
or any other suitable type of television distribution
facility). If desired, television distribution
facility 29 and application distribution facility 16
may be the same facility.
Communications link 20 may be any
communications link suitable for distributing
interactive television application data to user
television equipment 22. Communications link 20 may
include, for example, a satellite link, a telephone
network link, a cable or fiber optic link, a microwave
link, an Internet link, a data-over-cable service
interface specification (DOCSIS) link, a digital
subscriber line (DSL), a paging frequency or other
radio frequency link, a combination of such links, or
any other suitable communications link. There are
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typically multiple pieces of user television equipment
22 and multiple associated communications links 20,
although only one piece of user television equipment 22
and communications link 20 are shown in FIGS. 2a-2f to
avoid over-complicating the drawings. If desired,
television programming and interactive television
application data may be provided over separate
communications links.
User television equipment 22 and hand-held
application device 24 may communicate over
communications link 19. There may only be a single
communications link 19, such as when hand-held
application device 24 obtains application data
exclusively from user television as shown in FIGS. 2a,
2c, and 2e. Alternatively, there may be multiple
communications links 19, such as when hand-held
application device 24 obtains data directly from
application distribution facility 16 as shown in FIGS.
2b, 2d, and 2f. In still another suitable approach,
hand-held application device 24 may run totally
independently and not communicate with user television
equipment 22 at all.
Communications link 19 may be any suitable
wired or wireless communications link or links over
which digital or analog communications may take place
between hand-held application device 24 and user
television equipment 22, application distribution
facility 17 or main facility 12. Communications link
19 may include, for example, a serial or parallel
cable, a dial-up telephone line, a computer network or
Internet link (e. g., lOBase2, lOBase 5, lOBaseT,
100BaseT, lOBaseF, T1, T3, etc.), an in-home network
link, an infrared link), a radio-frequency link (e. g.,
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a 900 MHz link, a paging-frequency link, or other radio
frequency link), a satellite link, or any other
suitable transmission link or combination of links.
Communications link 19 may include a docking station
that connects hand-held device 24 to user television
equipment 22 directly or via an in-home network. Any
suitable transmission or access scheme may be used such
as standard serial or parallel communications,
Ethernet, Token Ring, Fiber Distributed Data Interface
(FDDI), Circuit-Switched Cellular (CSC), Cellular
Digital Packet Data (CDPD), time division multiple
access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA),
any other suitable transmission or access scheme, or
any suitable combination thereof.
It is envisioned that the transmission media
and scheme used will be appropriate for a particular
implementation and that different media and schemes may
be used on different communications links 19 when there
are multiple communications links 19. It may be more
suitable that when in the home, for example,
communications link 19 may be a RF or infrared link
instead of some of the more complicated links that are
more suited for data transmission over wider
geographical areas. It may also be more suitable, for
example, that when hand-held application device 24
communicates directly with application distribution
facility 16, communications link 19 may be a link more
suited for data transmission over wider geographical
areas, such as an Internet link.
Hand-held application device 24 and user
television equipment 22 may communicate using any
suitable network and transport layer protocols, if
desired. They may communicate, for example, using a
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protocol stack which includes Sequenced Packet
Exchange/Internetwork Packet Exchange (SPX/IPX) layers,
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP) layers, AppleTalk Transaction Protocol/
Datagram Delivery Protocol (ATP/DDP) layers, a Wireless
Access Protocol (WAP) layer, or any other suitable
network or transport layer protocols. Hand-held
application device 24 and user television equipment 22
may also be part of an in-home network using, for
example, the Jini networking protocol by Sun
Microsystems. Network and transport layer protocols
may be omitted from the system if desired.
Application data may be distributed by
distribution equipment 21 to user television equipment
22 exclusively (such as shown in FIGS. 2a, 2c, and 2e),
to user television equipment 22 and hand-held
application device 24 jointly (such as shown in FIGS.
2b, 2d, and 2f), or to just hand-held application
device 24, using any suitable scheme. For example,
application data may be provided in a continuous stream
or may be transmitted at a suitable time interval
(e.g., once per hour). If transmitted continuously, it
may not be necessary to store the data locally on user
television equipment 22 or hand-held application device
24. Rather, user television equipment 22 or hand-held
application device 24 may extract data "on the fly" as
it is needed. If desired, application distribution
facility 16 may poll user television equipment 22 or
hand-held device periodically for certain information
(e. g., pay program account information or information
regarding programs that have been purchased and viewed
using locally-generated authorization techniques).
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Application data may also be provided using a suitable
client-server approach or the Internet.
FIG. 2a shows an illustrative arrangement for
interactive television application equipment 17 and
hand-held application device 24 in which a primary
application runs totally on user television equipment
22. A secondary application running on hand-held
application device 24 obtains application data via user
television equipment 22. The secondary application may
obtain application data from a primary application
acting as a server via application communications sent
to user television equipment 22 via communications link
19. In another suitable approach, the secondary
application may obtain application data directly from
user television equipment 22 without involving the
primary application.
User television equipment 22 may, for
example, receive application data as part of a
continuous data stream, periodically, or in response to
polling requests from application distribution facility
17. In such approaches, application data may be
automatically provided to hand-held application device
24 without requiring the secondary application to
request it from the primary application. User
television equipment 22 may include, for example, a tap
antenna and associated circuitry that demodulates, and
if necessary decodes, the application data signal. The
tap antenna may resend the data to hand-held
application device 24 via communications link 19.
Alternatively, user television equipment 22 may receive
application data from application distribution
facility 16 and transmit that data to hand-held
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application device 24 using any other suitable
transmission scheme.
In still another suitable approach,
application data may be stored by user television
equipment 22 and forwarded to hand-held application
device 24. This approach may be desirable when, for
example, the transfer rates of data between application
distribution facility 16 and user television
equipment 22, and between user television equipment 22
and hand-held application device 24 are unequal.
FIG. 2b shows an illustrative arrangement for
interactive television application equipment 17 and
hand-held application device 24 in which hand-held
application device obtains application data directly
from application distribution facility 16. Application
distribution facility 16 may have communications
device 27 for providing hand-held application device 24
with access to application data from distribution
equipment 21.
Communications device 27 may be any suitable
communications device for communications link 19.
Communications device 27 may be, for example, a modem
(e. g., any suitable analog or digital modem, cellular
modem, or cable modem) such as when communications
link 19 is a telephone dial-up link or an Internet
link. Communications device 27 may be a network
interface card (e. g., an Ethernet card, token ring
card, etc.), such as when communications link 19 is a
wide-area-network (WAN) link or Internet link.
Communications device 27 may be a wireless transceiver
(e.g., a radio-frequency or infrared transceiver or
other suitable transceiver), such as when
communications link 19 is a wireless analog or digital
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link, such as a paging-frequency link. A secondary
application running on hand-held application device 24
may communicate with user television equipment 22 via a
separate communications link 19, or may communicate via
communications device 27, distribution equipment 21,
and communications link 20 if desired. Application
distribution facility 16 may have multiple
communications devices 27. One communications device
27 may be used to communicate with hand-held
application device 24, and another may be used to
communicate with user television equipment 22. Each
communications device 27 may be for a different type of
link l9 or 20. For example, one communications device
27 may be used to download application data or
otherwise exchange access communications over a paging-
frequency or 900 MHz link, and another communications
device may be used to transmit application data or
other information or programming to user television
equipment 22 over, for example, a cable television
link.
FIGS. 2c and 2d shows additional illustrative
arrangements for interactive television application
equipment 17 and hand-held application device 24. In
FIG. 2c, the primary application runs partly on user
television equipment 22 (e. g., a client application)
and partly at application distribution facility 16 on
application server 25. In FIG. 2d, the secondary
application runs partly on hand-held application device
24 and partly at application distribution facility 16
on application server 25. If desired, a combination of
the two approaches may be used. Application server 25
may use any suitable combination of hardware and
software to provide a client-server based primary or
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secondary application. Application server 25 may, for
example, run a suitable database engine (e.g., SQL
Server by Microsoft) and provide interactive television
application data in response to queries generated by a
primary application client implemented on user
television equipment 22. If desired, application
server 25 may be located at main facility 12, or some
other location, such as television distribution
facility 29.
The primary and secondary applications in
these approaches may retrieve interactive television
application data from application server 25 using any
suitable client-server based approach. The application
may, for example, pass SQL requests as messages to
application server 25. In another suitable approach,
the application may invoke remote procedures that
reside on application server 25 using one or more
remote procedure calls. Application server 25 may
execute SQL statements for such invoked remote
procedures. In still another suitable approach, client
objects executed by the application may communicate
with server objects executed by application server 25
using, for example, an object request broker (ORB).
This may involve using, for example, Microsoft's
Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) approach.
The primary and secondary applications may
communicate with application server 25 over
communications link 20 or 19 using any suitable network
and transport layer protocols, if desired. They may
communicate, for example, using a protocol stack which
includes Sequenced Packet Exchange/Internetwork Packet
Exchange (SPX/IPX) layers, Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) layers, AppleTalk
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Transaction Protocol/Datagram Delivery Protocol
(ATP/DDP) layers, WAP, DOCSIS or any other suitable
network and transport layer protocols.
FIGS. 2e and 2f show illustrative Internet
based interactive television application systems.
Application distribution facility 16 may, for example,
include Internet service system 61. Internet service
system 61 may use any suitable combination of hardware
and software capable of providing interactive
television application data to the primary or secondary
application using an Internet based approach (e. g.,
using the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) over a
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP) type link). If desired, Internet service
system 61 may be located at a facility that is separate
from application distribution facility 16.
If the primary application is implemented on
user television equipment 22 of interactive television
application equipment 17 as shown in FIG. 2e, Internet
service system 61 (or other suitable equipment at
application distribution facility 16 that is connected
to Internet service system 61) may provide interactive
television application data to user television
equipment 22 via the Internet, or via application
distribution equipment 21 using any suitable Internet-
based approach (e. g. using HTTP over a TCP/IP link).
If the primary application is a client-server
application as shown in FIG. 2e, or if the secondary
application is a client-server application that gets
data directly from application distribution facility
16, as shown in FIG. 2f, the primary or secondary
application may obtain interactive television
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application data from Internet service system 61 via an
Internet connection on communications link 20 or 19.
An illustrative arrangement for hand-held
application device 24 is shown in FIG. 3. Hand-held
application device 24 may be any suitable display
remote, personal digital assistant (PDA), ebook, or
other suitable portable hand-held device. The
functionality that hand-held application device 24 may
provide to the user may vary depending on its
processing circuitry, communications circuitry and
memory. It is envisioned that hand-held application
device 24 may be a Windows CE compliant or JAVA-based
hand-held PDA style device, or may be enabled by any
other suitable software operating system for hand-held
devices. Hand-held application device 24 may have user
interface 52, processing circuitry 54, storage 56, and
communications device 58.
User interface 52 may be any suitable input
or output device or system, and may include a liquid
crystal display (LCD), touch sensitive screen, stylus,
voice recognition and synthesis circuitry, microphone,
speaker, manual buttons or keys, keyboard, or any other
suitable user input or output hardware and software.
User interface 52 preferably includes a touch sensitive
screen. A touch sensitive screen may simplify
navigation within various types of interactive
television applications. Fixed-button remote controls
of program guide systems, for example, may have as much
as four dozen buttons to choose from. The remotes of
these systems may be replaced by a touch sensitive
screen enabled hand-held application device 24. A
touch sensitive screen of hand-held application device
24 need only display those buttons or controls that
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apply to the specific screen that the user is viewing
or the specific task that the user is performing. In
addition, an interface displayed on a touch sensitive
screen may change to suit the type of data entry the
user is going to perform in the television application.
For example, a keyboard may be displayed to provide a
user with an opportunity to enter one or more
characters, or a number pad may be displayed to
simplify numeric entries. User interface 52 may also
include suitable handwriting recognition software for
running on a hand-held device.
In still another suitable approach, hand-held
application device 24 may have a combination of push
buttons and displays. The displays may label each push
button with text or graphics to indicate to the user
the feature associated with a push button. When the
user accesses different interactive applications, the
displays may change based on the application accessed.
When; for example, an interactive wagering application
is accessed, two displays may read "bet" and "info."
When the user changes applications to, for example, an
interactive program guide, the same displays may read
"channel up" and "channel down." For each application,
pressing a given push button results in performing the
indicated feature. Control codes may be downloaded
from, for example, user television equipment 22 via a
900 MHz link, to hand-held application device 24 to
indicate to hand-held application device 24 the proper
labels and features for each push button.
Processing circuitry 54 may include any
suitable processor, such as an Intel Pentium~, AMD, or
other microprocessor. Hand-held application device 24
may also have storage 56. Storage 56 may be any
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suitable memory or other storage device, such as R.AM,
ROM, flash memory, or other storage suitable for a
hand-held device.
Hand-held application device 24 may also have
communications device 58. Communications device 58 may
be any device suitable for supporting communications
between hand-held application device 24 and user
television equipment 22 or interactive television
application equipment 17 over link 19. Communications
device 58 may be, for example, a communications port
(e. g., a serial port, parallel port, universal serial
bus (USB) port, etc.), modem (e. g., any suitable analog
or digital standard modem or cellular modem), network
interface card (e. g., an Ethernet card, token ring
card, etc.), wireless transceiver (e. g., an infrared,
radio, or other suitable analog or digital
transceiver), or other suitable communications device
for a hand-held device. In particular, communications
device 58 may be a paging-frequency transceiver. If
desired, hand-held application device 24 may have
multiple communications devices 58. One communications
device 58 may be used to communicate with application
distribution facility 16, and another may be used to
communicate with user television equipment 22. Each
communications device 58 may be for a different type of
link 19. For example, one communications device 58 may
be used to download application data or otherwise
exchange access communications over a paging-frequency
or 900 MHz link, and another communications device,
such as an infra-red emitter, may be used to control
user television equipment 22 and other home
entertainment equipment using infra-red controls. The
paging-frequency emitter may be used, for example, to
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upload device type information and download infra-red
codes. When used in this mode, keys may be displayed
on the device, and the user may touch the screen to
generate commands. The keys can be context sensitive,
where only the keys of interest are displayed at any
time.
In operation, hand-held application device
obtains user commands from user interface 52, processes
the commands using processing circuitry 54, and outputs
a suitable display screen to the user on user
interface 52. When a user indicates a desire to access
a function of the secondary application that requires
the application to obtain application data, processing
circuitry 54 may direct communications device 58 to
initiate a session with user television equipment 22 or
application distribution facility 16.
The hand-held application device may be of a
size to fit in a pocket or purse. The device may have
a touch-screen LCD display, a two-way paging interface,
and may run on standard batteries. The paging
interface may continuously collect TV listing data and
store the data in local memory. It may also download
advertisements while the device is in normal use. This
may be done by for example buying time from a national
paging service.
The device may have a fold-down cover to
protect the display from damage or accidental
activation. Opening the cover automatically may turn
the device on and activate its display. The first
display may be, for example, a main menu, which may
include interactive advertisements. One of the items
on the menu may be an interactive program guide.
Selecting the guide feature may bring up a guide main
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menu, display of program listings or any other suitable
guide display. When a user select a listing, the
device may display a description of a program
associated with the listing. Advertisements may be
programming related, in which case selecting them may
bring up more information about a program, allow
reminders to be set, or any other suitable function.
Advertisements for other products may allow a user to
get more information or purchase a product.
The hand-held application device may be
offered to consumers for free or for a very low cost,
as it may be advertising supported. Screens or pages
displayed by the device may contain passive or
interactive advertisements. Providing the device at
low consumer price may allow the device to be
distributed in large volumes. This may increase the
value of the device to advertisers. Users of the
device may not have to live in a special area,
subscribe to any kind of digital cable or satellite
service, or have an Internet account, to use the device
if desired. Once a platform like this has been
distributed, there will be continued opportunities for
growth. New software can be downloaded. It can
support future marketing opportunities, and it offers
the ability to add user features at a later date, as
either a free or pay upgrade.
An illustrative arrangement for user
television equipment 22 is shown in FIG. 4. User
television equipment 22 of FIG. 4 receives analog video
or a digital video stream from a distribution facility
at input 26. Data from application distribution
facility 16 is also received at input 26. During
normal television viewing, the user tunes set-top
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box 28 to a desired television channel (analog or
digital). The signal for that television channel is
then provided at video output 30. The signal supplied
at output 30 is typically either a radio-frequency (RF)
signal on a predefined channel (e.g., channel 3 or 4),
or a analog demodulated video signal, but may also be a
digital signal provided to television 36 on an
appropriate digital bus (e.g., a bus using the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE) 1394 standard, (not shown)). The video signal
at output 30 is received by optional secondary storage
device 32.
A primary application or primary application
client may run on set-top box 28, on television 36, on
optional digital storage device 31 (if television 36 or
optional digital storage device 31 has suitable
processing circuitry and memory), or on a suitable
analog or digital receiver connected to television 36.
The interactive television application may also run
cooperatively on both television 36 and set-top box 28.
Interactive television application systems in which a
cooperative interactive television program guide
application runs on multiple devices are described, for
example, in Ellis U.S. patent application Serial
No. 09/186,598, filed November 5, 1998, which is hereby
incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Secondary storage device 32 can be any
suitable type of analog or digital program storage
device or player (e.g., a videocassette recorder, a
digital versatile disc (DVD) player, etc.). Program
recording and other features may be controlled by
set-top box 28 using control link 34. If secondary
storage device 32 is a videocassette recorder, for
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example, a typical control link 34 involves the use of
an infrared transmitter coupled to the infrared
receiver in the videocassette recorder that normally
accepts commands from a remote control such as remote
control 40.
Hand-held application device 24 may be used
to control set-top box 28, secondary storage device 32,
and television 36. Hand-held application device 24
may, for example, have different operation modes for
operating as an interface to applications and for
controlling user television equipment 22 like a remote
control. Hand-held application device 24 may be
programmable based on, for example, the devices in user
television equipment 22. The user may, for example,
select device types from within a suitable setup
display. In another suitable approach, hand-held
application device 24 may download configuration
information from an application (e. g., an interactive
television program guide) running on user television
equipment 22. Any other suitable approach may also be
used.
If desired, the user may record programs,
application data, or a suitable combination thereof in
digital form on optional digital storage device 31.
The user may also download software to digital storage
device 31 from the Internet or some other medium.
Digital storage device 31 may be a writeable optical
storage device (such as a DVD player capable of
handling recordable DVD discs), a magnetic storage
device (such as a disk drive or digital tape), or any
other digital storage device. Interactive television
application systems in which program guides have
digital storage devices are described, for example, in
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Hassell et al. U.S. patent application Serial No.
09/157,256, filed September 17, 1998, which is hereby
incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Digital storage device 31 can be contained in
set-top box 28 or it can be an external device
connected to set-top box 28 via an output port and
appropriate interface. If necessary, processing
circuitry in set-top box 28 formats the received video,
audio and data signals into a digital file format.
Preferably, the file format is an open file format such
as the Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) MPEG-2
standard or the Moving Joint Photographic Experts Group
(MJPEG) standard. The resulting data is streamed to
digital storage device 31 via an appropriate bus (e. g.,
a bus using the Institute Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE) 1394 standard), and is stored on
digital storage device 31. In another suitable
approach, an MPEG-2 data stream or series of files may
be received from distribution equipment 21 and stored
in digital storage device 31. For example, files from
programs recorded by the user using a remote media
server at television distribution facility 29 may be
stored. Such digital files may be played back to the
user when desired.
Television 36 receives video signals from
secondary storage device 32 via communications path 38.
The video signals on communications path 38 may either
be generated by secondary storage device 32 when
playing back a prerecorded storage medium (e.g., a
videocassette or a recordable digital video disc), by
digital storage device 31 when playing back a pre-
recorded digital video (e. g., a video for a program
that was recorded by the user at a media server remote
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to or within the user's home), may be passed through
from set-top box 28, may be provided directly to
television 36 via set-top box 28 if secondary storage
device 32 is not included in user television equipment
22, or may be received directly by television 36.
During normal television viewing, the video signals
provided to television 36 correspond to the desired
channel to which the user has tuned with set-top box
28. Video signals may also be provided to television
36 by set-top box 28 when set-top box 28 is used to
play back information stored on digital storage device.
31, or when set-top box 28 is used to decode a digital
video stream, or digital files transmitted from
television distribution facility 29.
Set-top box 28 may have communications
device 37 for communicating directly with application
server 25 or Internet service system 61 over
communications link 20, or with hand-held application
device 24 over communications link 19. Communications
device 37 may be, for example, a communications port
(e. g., a serial port, parallel port, universal serial
bus (USB) port, etc.), modem (e. g., any suitable analog
or digital standard modem or cellular modem), network
interface card (e. g.. an Ethernet card, token ring
card, etc.), wireless transceiver (e. g., an infrared,
radio, or other suitable analog or digital
transceiver), or other suitable communications device.
Television 36 may also have such a suitable
communications device if desired. In particular,
communications device 37 may be a paging-frequency or
900 MHz transceiver. If desired, set-top box 28 may
have multiple communications devices 37. One
communications device 37 may be used to communicate
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with application distribution facility 16, and another
may be used to communicate with hand-held application
device 24. Each communications device 37 may be for a
different type of link 20. For example, one
communications device 37 may be used to download
application data or otherwise exchange access
communications over a paging-frequency or 900 MHz link,
and another communications device may be used to
control user television equipment 22 using infra-red
controls.
A more generalized embodiment of user
television equipment 22 of FIG. 4 is shown in FIG. 5.
As shown in FIG. 5, interactive application data from
application distribution facility 16 (FIG. 1) is
received by control circuitry 42 of user television
equipment 22. The functions of control circuitry 42
may be provided using the set-top box arrangement of
FIG. 4. Alternatively, these functions may be
integrated into an advanced television receiver (e. g.,
a digital television receiver or high definition
television (HDTV) receiver), personal computer
television (PC/TV), or any other suitable arrangement.
If desired, a combination of such arrangements may be
used.
User television equipment 22 of FIG. 5 may
have secondary storage device 47; digital storage
device 49, or any suitable combination thereof for
recording programming. Secondary storage device 47 and
digital storage device 49 may be omitted if desired.
Secondary storage device 47 can be any suitable type of
analog or digital program storage device (e.g., a
videocassette recorder, a digital versatile disc (DVD),
etc.). Program recording and other features may be
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controlled by control circuitry 42. Digital storage
device 49 may be, for example, a writable optical
storage device (such as a DVD player capable of
handling recordable DVD discs), a magnetic storage
device (such as a disk drive or digital tape), or any
other digital storage device.
Memory 63 may be any memory or other storage
device, such as a random access memory (RAM), read only
memory (ROM), flash memory, a hard disk drive, a
combination of such devices, etc., that is suitable for
storing primary application instructions and
application data for use by control circuitry 42.
User television equipment 22 of FIG. 5 may
have communications device 51 for supporting
communications between user television equipment 22 and
application server 25 or Internet service system 61 via
communications link 20, or between hand-held
application device 24 via communications link 19.
Communications device 51 may be, for example, a
communications port (e. g., a serial port, parallel
port, universal serial bus (USB) port, etc.), modem
(e.g., any suitable analog or digital standard modem or
cellular modem), network interface card (e.g., an
Ethernet card, token ring card, etc.), wireless
transceiver (e. g., an infrared, radio, or other
suitable analog or digital transceiver), or other
suitable communications device. In particular,
communications device 51 may be a paging-frequency or
900 MHz transceiver. If desired, user television
equipment 22 may have multiple communications devices
51. One communications device 51 may be used to
communicate with application distribution facility 16,
and another may be used to communicate with hand-held
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application device 24. Each communications device 37
may be for a different type of link 20. For example,
one communications device 51 may be used to download
application data or otherwise exchange access
communications over a two-way cable link, paging-
frequency or 900 MHz link, and another communications
device may be used to provide television programming,
application data, or other information to hand-held
application device 24 over an infra-red or 900 MHz
link.
The primary and secondary applications may be
any suitable application including, without limitation,
a home shopping application, web-browser, to-do list,
wagering application, or any other application. For
clarity, the present invention will be illustrated in
connection with a system in which an interactive
television program guide application is implemented on
interactive television application equipment 17 and
hand-held application device 24. In one suitable
arrangement for such a system, program guide data is
distributed from a main facility to an interactive
television program guide implemented on user television
equipment via an application distribution facility. In
another suitable arrangement, the interactive
television program guide application may be implemented
using a client-server architecture in which the primary
processing power for the application is provided by a
server located at, for example, application
distribution facility 16 or main facility 12 (e. g.,
program guide server 25), and user television
equipment 22 acts as a client processor as illustrated
by FIGS. 2c and 2d. In still another alternative
arrangement, the program guide application may obtain
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program guide data from the Internet, as illustrated by
FIGS. 2e and 2f.
Program guides typically limit a user's
ability to select interactive objects on a screen by
requiring that objects be selected by positioning a
highlight region or cursor over the objects. When, for
example, a user is within a column of program listings,
the user cannot arrow above or below the column to
select an interactive object. In addition, the user
may be required to perform several key strokes to
navigate from one object to another. On a touch
sensitive screens such as the preferred display of
hand-held application device 24, however, any area can
be selectable, thereby providing the user with an
increased ability to access interactive objects. Hand-
held application device 24 may, for example, display a
menu modeled after a menu displayed on user television
equipment 22 by an interactive application. The user
may select a particular menu option with a single
action without having to perform, as with a regular
remote control, multiple keystrokes to position a
highlight region.
The portable hand-held application device may
include many of the features of interactive program
guides, such as listings by time, by channel, by
category, favorite channels or any other guide feature.
It may allow the user to set reminders and have them
appear on the device, with both an audio alert and a
display. Via a paging return, for example, the device
can be used to set reminders or schedule recordings
remotely. The portable device may be used for
collecting data. For example, it might be used to send
out surveys. It may also be used to collect audience
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ratings information. With an appropriate point-of-
purchase device, for example, may be used to distribute
electronic coupons.
A secondary program guide running on hand-
s held device 24 may obtain program guide data directly
from application distribution facility 16 (e. g.,
distribution equipment 21, application server 25, or
Internet service system 61), from a primary program
guide application running on user television equipment
22, or using a combination of these approaches.
Whatever the approach used, the secondary program guide
application running on hand-held application device 24
may provide a user with an opportunity to coordinate
the functions of the primary guide with the functions
of the secondary guide, thereby extending the
interactivity of the primary and secondary guides.
The display of hand-held application device
24, preferably a touch sensitive screen, becomes an
integrated part of the on-screen guide. Complimentary
interactivity between the primary and secondary guides
may be provided for various program guide functions
without interrupting television viewing. For example,
browsing through channels and times, accessing program
information, ordering pay-per-view programs, setting
reminders, and locking programs may all be performed by
the user with hand-held application device 24. For
more user-involved functions such as setting favorite
channels, viewing more than one channel at a time, or
setting global parental locks, the display of hand-held
application device 24 may seamlessly convert to a
remote control that allows the user to navigate a
primary guide display screen to perform the function.
Hand-held applications device 24 may provide stand-
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alone access to program guide or other interactive
television application features if desired.
FIG. 6 shows an illustrative menu screen 601
that may be displayed by hand-held application
device 24 when, for example, device 24 starts up. Menu
screen 601 may include a number of icons 603 that
indicate secondary applications that have functionality
coordinated with primary applications running on user
television equipment 22. Menu screen 601 may also
include icons 605 that indicate other applications that
run exclusively on hand-held application device 24, if
desirable. A user may access a secondary program guide
application by, for example, touching a TV Guide icon
with his or her finger or stylus.
FIG. 7 shows an illustrative browse display
screen 701 that may be displayed by the secondary
program guide .running on hand-held access device 24.
Browse display screen 701 may be displayed, for
example, on startup, or after the user selects a
suitable icon from menu screen 601. Browse display
screen 701 may include browse area 703 in which a
program title 715 for the browsed channel 717 and time
slot 719 is displayed. Browse area 703 may also
include the broadcast time of the program associated
with the listing, and its rating. The current time 711
and channel 713 may also be displayed.
A user may browse program listings for other
time slots and channels by touching right, left, up,
and down arrows 721. A user may tune to the browsed
channel by, for example, touching channel 717. When a
user touches channel 717, the secondary program guide
may exchange one or more application communications
with the primary guide via communications link 19
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telling the primary guide that the user has indicated a
desire to tune to a particular channel. The primary
guide may cause user television equipment 22 to tune to
the indicated channel. In another suitable approach,
hand-held application device 24 may be programmed to
change the channel on television 36 using set-top box
28 (FIG. 4).
The controls in browse display screen 701 may
also be used to perform any other suitable function.
The user may touch time 719 or channel 717 to, for
example, enter a by-time or by-channel listings screen.
In still another suitable approach, the user may touch
time 719 and hand-held application device 24 may
present a numeric keypad or a list of times separated
by, for example, one-half hour time slots, to provide
the user with an opportunity to indicate a time for
which the user wishes to browse listings. In response
to the user touching channel 717, hand-held application
device 24 may present a numeric keypad or a list of
channels to provide the user with an opportunity to
indicate a channel for which the user wishes to browse
listings.
Browse display screen 701 may include
selectable advertisements 705. Selectable
advertisements 705 may, for example, include text and
graphics advertising a program or other television or
non-television products or services. When a user
selects a selectable advertisement 705, the secondary
guide may display information (e. g., pay-per-view
ordering information, program information, etc.) or
take other actions related to the content of the
advertisement. The secondary guide may, for example,
cause user television equipment 22 to tune to a barker
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type channel on which a trailer for an advertised pay-
per-view program is displayed. Alternatively, the
secondary guide may use one or more application
communications to indicate to the primary guide that
the user has selected an advertised for a pay-per-view
program. The primary guide may then tune user
television equipment 22 to the associated barker
channel. While the barker channel is being played on
user television equipment 22, the secondary guide may
provide a user with an opportunity to order the pay-
per-view program.
Browse display screen 701 may also include
logo 707 for providing a user with an opportunity to
access the primary program guide running on interactive
television application equipment 17. The user may
touch exit icon 709 to return hand-held application
device 24 to its default state (e. g., power it down,
return to main menu screen 601, etc.). If desired,
browse display screen 701 may include other controls
suitable for browsing listings. Browse display screen
701 may include, for example, next program, previous
program, hour ahead, hour back, day ahead, day back,
and current time controls. When selecting channels,
browse display screen 701 may include, for example,
next and previous favorites buttons to allow the user
to indicate a desire to browse listings for favorite
programs. Any other suitable control may also be used.
FIG. 8 shows an illustrative information
screen 801 that the secondary program guide may display
when, for example, the user touches a program title 715
from browse display screen 701 of FIG. 7, or when the
user selects a selectable advertisement 705.
Information screen 801 may include information 803
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about the program indicated by the selected listing.
Information screen 801 may also include selectable
advertisements 705, the current time 711, the current
channel 713, logo 707, and exit icon 709. When the
user accesses information screen 801 by selecting a
selectable advertisement 705, only the selected
selectable advertisement may remain on the screen. The
secondary program guide may provide a user with an
opportunity to access other familiar program guide
features for the indicated program from information
screen 801, such as tuning to the program (by touching
watch control 807).
The secondary guide may provide a user with
an opportunity to set reminders. The user may set a
reminder for the indicated program by, for example,
touching remind control 809. When the user sets a
reminder using hand-held application device 24, the
secondary guide may coordinate the reminder with the
primary guide. The secondary guide may, for example,
indicate the program for which the reminder is set to
the primary guide by exchanging one or more application
communications via link 19. At an appropriate time
(e.g., ten minutes before the program starts), the
secondary guide may display a reminder on hand-held
access device 24 and the primary guide may display a
reminder on display device 45 (FIG. 5). To conserve
memory on hand-held application device 24, reminders
may be set by the secondary guide with the primary
guide and not stored by the secondary guide. When the
reminder is displayed by the primary guide, the primary
guide may exchange one or more application
communications with the secondary guide indicating that
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a reminder is due for a given program. The secondary
guide may display a reminder accordingly.
Hand-held application device 24 may provide
the user with an opportunity to configure the time at
which a reminder is displayed. The user may schedule
reminders for, for example, between one and fifteen
minutes before a program is available. If desired,
reminders may be provided by hand-held application
device 24 and user television equipment 22 at different
default or user-configured times. In still another
approach, reminders may be provided by only one of
hand-held application device 24 and user television
equipment 22.
The secondary guide may provide a user with
an opportunity to parentally lock or unlock program
titles, channels, ratings, or time periods. The user
may indicate a desire to parentally lock an indicated
program or one of its attributes (e. g., title, rating,
channel, etc.) by, for example, touching lock control
811. Locking or unlocking a program title, channel,
rating, or time period may be an involved function in
some program guides from a user interaction standpoint.
When a user indicates a desire to lock or unlock a
program title, channel, rating, or time period the
secondary program guide may exchange one or more
application communications with the primary program
guide that indicate to the primary guide that the user
wishes to lock or unlock a given program title,
channel, rating, or time period. The secondary guide
may then convert to a remote control that allows the
user to navigate within a primary guide parental
control display screen. In guides where parentally
controlling a program is not very involved, the
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secondary guide may provide the user with an
opportunity to lock or unlock a program by title,
channel, genre, rating, or example.
The secondary guide may also provide a user
with an opportunity to change a parental control code.
When a user changes a parental control code, the
secondary guide may indicate to the primary guide the
changing of the code and the new code, using one or
more application communications. The primary guide may
then change the parental control code accordingly.
If desired, information screen 801 may
include a more control in addition to or instead of
controls 807, 809, and 811. In response to a user
touching a more control, hand-held application device
24 may provide controls for additional features.
Additional controls may include, for example, pay-per-
view ordering controls, other air time controls, or any
other suitable control.
The secondary guide running on hand-held
application device 24 may provide a user with an
opportunity to order pay-per-view programs. A user may
indicate a desire to order a pay-per-view program by,
for example, touching a selectable advertisement 705
that advertises a pay-per-view program. FIG. 9 shows
an illustrative pay-per-view ordering screen. As with
other display screens displayed by the secondary guide
on hand-held application device 24, pay-per-view
ordering screen may include brand logo 707, exit
control 709, the current time 711, and current channel
713. Pay-per-view ordering screen 901 may also include
ordering information 907. Ordering information 907 may
include the title of the selected program, the air time
911 for the selected showing, the price, a brief
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description, the rating of the pay-per-view program,
and any other suitable information.
Pay-per-view ordering screen 901 may also
include selectable advertisements 705. A single
selectable advertisement 705 may be displayed when, for
example, the user accesses a pay-per-view ordering
screen by selecting a selectable advertisement. The
single selectable advertisement may not be actionable.
When the user accesses the screen by, for example,
selecting a pay-per-view program title, two selectable
advertisements 705 may be displayed. When a user
selects one of the two selectable advertisements 705,
the secondary guide may display a program information
screen for an advertised program.
When screen 901 is initially displayed, run
time 911 for the indicated pay-per-view program may
start at the next available start time 913. The user
may see additional air times by, for example, touching
left arrow 903 or right arrow 905. When the user
selects a different start time 913, the secondary guide
may display ordering information 907 for the selected
start time.
The secondary guide may provide a user with
an opportunity to navigate within the primary guide and
access features of the primary guide using hand-held
application device 24. A user may indicate a desire to
access the primary guide by, for example, touching logo
707. FIG. 10 shows an illustrative remote screen 1000.
Remote screen 1000 may include, for example, logo 707,
selectable advertisements 705, current time 711 and
current channel 713. When a user selects logo 707 from
within remote screen 1000, the secondary guide may
instruct the primary guide to display a program
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listings screen on display device 54 (FIG. 5). The
controls of remote screen 1000 may be based on and
displayed according to the screen displayed by a
primary guide or other application, the option
highlighted on a particular primary application screen,
the content or type of information displayed in a
primary application screen, or any other suitable
feature, group of features, or content.
The user may navigate within a primary guide
display screen by, for example, touching arrows 1003.
Navigation within a program guide display screen using
hand-held application device may be performed within
any primary guide display screen. For the purposes of
illustration, navigation within a primary guide main
menu screen and within a primary guide program listings
screen is discussed.
An illustrative primary guide main menu
screen 100 is shown in FIG. 11. Main menu screen 100
may include menu 102 of selectable program guide
features 106. If desired, program guide features 106
may be organized according to feature type. In menu
102, for example, program guide features 106 have been
organized into three columns. The column labeled "TV
GUIDE" is for listings related features, the column
labeled "MSO SHOWCASE" is for multiple system operator
(MSO) related features, and the column labeled "VIEWER
SERVICES" is for viewer related features. The
interactive television program guide may generate a
display screen for a particular program guide feature
when a user selects that feature from menu 102.
Main menu screen 100 may include one or more
selectable advertisements 108. Selectable
advertisements 108 may, for example, include text and
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graphics advertising pay-per-view programs or other
programs or products. When a user selects a selectable
advertisement 108, the program guide may display
information (e. g., pay-per-view information) or take
other actions related to the content of the
advertisement. Pure text advertisements may be
presented, if desired, as illustrated by selectable
advertisement banner 110.
Main menu screen 100 may also include other
screen elements. The brand of the program guide
product may be indicated, for example, using a product
brand logo graphic such as product brand logo
graphic 112. The identity of the television service
provider may be presented, for example, using a service
provider logo graphic such as service provider logo
graphic 114. The current time may be displayed in
clock display region 116. In addition, a suitable
indicator such as indicator graphic 118 may be used to
indicate to a user that mail from a cable operator is
waiting for a user if the program guide supports
messaging functions. Additionally a TV e-mail reminder
may allow a user to know when he or she has awaiting e-
mail messages from an Internet, Intranet or other
computer-related e-mail account. The user may
interactively correspond with his or her e-mail
respondent using, for example, a virtual keyboard
displayed on hand-held application device 24, voice
commands that are received and processed by hand-held
application device 24, or a suitable input device
connected to hand-held application device 24 or user
television equipment 22 (e. g., a wireless keyboard).
A user may select a feature 106 by, for
example, positioning highlight region 120 over the
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feature. The user may position highlight region 120
by, for example, touching arrows 1003. As the user
touches an arrow 1003, the secondary guide may indicate
the desired action (i.e., positioning highlight region
120) to the primary guide using one or more application
communications. The primary guide may receive the
application communications and position highlight
region 120 on display device 45 accordingly.
When the user has positioned highlight region
120 over a desired feature, the user may select the
feature by, for example, touching OK 1005 on hand-held
application device 24. The secondary guide may
indicate to the primary guide that the user has
selected a feature using one or more application
communications. The primary guide may receive the
application communications and perform the desired
function.
A user may, for example, desire to view
program listings using the primary guide by, for
example, selecting a "By Time" feature. Alternatively,
the user may indicate a desire to view program listings
by, for example, selecting a by-time option from within
primary guide main menu screen 100. The secondary
guide may indicate the desired feature to the primary
guide using one or more application communications, and
the primary guide may display a program listings
screen.
The primary guide may overlay a program
listings screen over a program being viewed by a user
or over a portion of the program in a "browse" mode.
Program listings may be displayed using any suitable
list, table, grid, or other suitable display
arrangement. If desired, program listings screens may
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include selectable advertisements, product brand logo
graphics, service provider brand graphics, clocks, or
any other suitable indicator or graphic.
FIG. 12 illustrates the display of program
listings by time. Program listings screen 130 of FIG.
12 may include highlight region 151, which highlights
the current program listing 150. A user may position
highlight region 151 by, for example, touching arrows
1003. A user may tune to a program by, for example,
highlighting its listing and touching "OK" 1005. A
user may view additional listings for the time slot
indicated in time bar 111 by, for example, touching
arrows 1003 to move highlight region 120 up or down
past the beginning or end of the listings. A user may
view program listings for other time slots by, for
example, touching right and left arrows 1003. In this
example, hand-held application device may include other
controls appropriate for program listings screen 130,
such as page up, page down, day forward, day back, or
any other suitable control.
The secondary program guide may provide a
user with an opportunity to navigate within the primary
program guide in other ways. The secondary guide may
provide a user with an opportunity to set channels as
favorites on the secondary guide, the primary guide, or
both. The user may, for example, navigate between
listings set as favorites by touching "FAV" 1007.
Alternatively, the secondary guide may re-sort program
listings with the favorite channels in the most
prominent or convenient position as displayed on hand-
held application device 24 or user television equipment
22.
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The user may back up one previous primary
guide display screen by, for example, touching "FAST"
1009. The user may return to primary guide main menu
screen 100 by, for example, touching "MENU" 1011. The
user may return to watching television by, for example,
touching "EXIT" 709. A user may indicate a desire to
view program information for a particular listing by,
for example, positioning highlight region 150 over the
listing and touching "INFO" 1013. Other illustrative
controls that may be displayed by the secondary guide
on hand-held application device 24 when a user
highlights a program listing from within a listings
screen or other display screen may include controls
for: setting a reminder, locking a program, ordering
the program if it is a pay-per-view, seeing other air
times of the program, or ordering program-related
merchandise such as a CD of the soundtrack, a videotape
of the program, or apparel carrying the program's
brand.
The primary guide may also provide a user
with an opportunity to view a listing of channels such
as shown in illustrative premiums screen 231 of FIG.
13. The secondary guide may change the display on
hand-held application device to display controls that
are suitable for such a screen. The secondary guide
may display, for example, a subscribe control for
subscribing to a channel, a set favorite control to set
a channel as a favorite, a lock control to lock a
channel, or an info control for providing information
about a channel.
The secondary guide may also provide a user
with an opportunity to define what objects are always
displayed on hand-held application device 24. The user
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may choose, for example, a help control that invokes
context sensitive help, a message flag that signals
hand-held application device 24 or the user's
television equipment has received an e-mail, a VCR
button, a DVD button, or a power off button that turns
off all of user television equipment 22 and devices
connected to user television equipment 22.
The functionality of the primary guide may be
extended to or coordinated with the secondary guide for
any number of other suitable program guide related
features. The secondary guide may provide a user with
an opportunity to use hand-held application device 24
to, for example: send and receive e-mail (related to
the guide, such as promotional messages from the cable
operator, or unrelated to the guide, such as personal
messages); buy merchandise; bid on a televised auction;
order subscriptions services such as HBO; pay a cable
bill; make a financial transaction for someone at a
different household (such as renting a PPV movie for
another, or making any other guide-based financial
transaction); effect Internet based e-commerce (e. g.,
order merchandise, participate in an on-line auction or
reverse auction, etc.), or surf the Internet. These
and other features may be incorporated into hand-held
access device 24 as a stand-alone device if desired.
Another function that may be coordinated
between the primary and secondary guides using hand-
held application device 24 is the control of a picture-
in-picture (PIP) display. A PIP display is a small
partial-screen video window of one channel's video
overlaid on top of another channel's video that is
displayed full-screen. Using the browse function of
the secondary guide, the user could browse channels and
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program titles on hand-held application device 24 and
watch the same channels in the PIP, while other viewers
can continue to watch the tuned channel on the main
screen. The secondary guide may also provide a user
with an opportunity to call up on-demand movie
trailers, TV commercials and other downloaded video
within the PIP window, using hand-held application
device 24.
The secondary guide (or other software
running on hand-held application device 24) may also
provide a user with an opportunity to control the PIP
in multi-person video conferencing. For example, in a
three-way video conference the user could switch views
between the two other user locations by touching
suitable controls on hand-held application device 24.
In a two-way video conference, for example, the user
may use hand-held application device 24 to alternate
between viewer locations in the PIP display.
Hand-held application device 24 may have
suitable processing circuitry so as to display video.
A video signal may be streamed, for example, as an
MPEG-2 data stream to hand-held application device 24
for display. Video displays may also be streamed to
hand-held application device 24 as a user browses
through program listings using the secondary guide. In
this approach, the video display may include video for
a program that has its listing displayed and that is
being broadcasted at the time of the browse. If system
resources do not permit the streaming of video, still
shots may be transmitted from interactive television
application equipment 17 to hand-held application
device 24 for display instead. In another suitable
approach, highly compressed videos may be used to
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account for bandwidth constraints. Using highly
compressed videos may also be desirable when, for
example, the resolution of the display of hand-held
application device 24 would not support high-resolution
video.
Other applications may be exclusively run on
hand-held application device 24. Hand-held application
device 24 may run, for example, an on-line program
guide client. A user may indicate a desire to access
an on-line program guide by, for example, touching TV
Guide On-line from menu screen 601 (FIG. 6). When a
user indicates a desire to access an on-line program
guide, hand-held application device 24 may launch a
standard Internet browser and access a suitable Web
site. Alternatively, a proprietary Web browser or
other remote access software may be launched in order
to access a Web site or other proprietary site that
provides Web access for a hand-held device.
FIG. 14 shows an illustrative home page 1401
for a hand-held access device Web site. When a user
selects a HyperText link 1403 or other suitable type of
anchor, hand-held access device 24 may download a
HyperText Markup Language (HTML) page using the
HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Any other suitable
protocol may be used. In still another suitable
approach, hand-held access device 24 may use suitable
remote access software such as a Windows remote access
software (RAS) client to download screen shots or
screen shot commands, from a server (i.e., an Internet
server that provides Internet access via a remote
access client). FIG. 15 shows an illustrative page
that hand-held access device 24 may display when, for
example, a user selects a "Editor's Picks" anchor.
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FIGS. 16a and 16b show illustrative pages
that hand-held application device 24 may display when,
for example, a user selects My TV listings anchor 1403.
As shown, the on-line guide client, Web browser, or
other access application running on hand-held
application device 24 may provide a user with an
opportunity to view program listings sorted according
to one of a number of user selected criteria. When a
user selects criteria, the on-line guide client, Web
browser, or other Internet access application may
retrieve program listings for the selected criteria and
display the listings as shown in FIG. 16c. If desired,
program listings may be downloaded based on the user's
zip code, cable system, satellite service, or other
suitable criteria, so that the user views program
listings for programs available to the user and for the
proper time zone. Users may also be provided with an
opportunity to limit the listings by time, genre,
favorites, or any other suitable criteria.
The on-line guide client, Web browser, or
other access application running on hand-held
application device 24 may also provide a user with an
opportunity to view information about the application.
FIG. 17 shows an about page that hand-held application
device 24 may display when, for example, a user selects
an About TVG Wireless anchor 1403, or other suitable
anchor, from home page 1401 of FIG. 14.
FIGS. 18-20 are flowcharts of illustrative
steps involved in providing stand-alone and coordinated
application features on hand-held application device
24. The steps shown in FIGS. 18-20 are illustrative
and in practice may be performed in any suitable order.
FIG. 18 is a flowchart of illustrative steps involved
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in providing interactive television and other
application features with hand-held application device
24. At step 1800, application data, such as
interactive television application data or data for
other applications, is provided to hand-held
application device 24. The data may be provided
directly from main facility 12 to hand-held application
device 24, from main facility 12 to hand-held
application device 24 via interactive television
application equipment 17, or directly from interactive
television application equipment 17 (i.e., data that
originates from interactive television application
equipment 17). The interactive television application
data may include any data suitable for interactive
television or other applications. Interactive
television applications may include, for example,
applications that provide information related to
television programming or that provide interactive
features associated with television programming, such
as, for example, interactive television program guides,
home shopping applications, e-mail, wagering and
financial trading applications. Interactive television
applications may also include applications provided on
user television equipment 22. As illustrative
examples, home shopping applications and financial
trading applications may be interactive television
applications when features of such applications are
provided via user television equipment. The features
of these applications may be provided with television
programming related to the features. A home shopping
application may, for example, provide purchasing
opportunities for products and services featured on a
home shopping television channel.
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Hand-held application device 24 receives the
interactive television application data (step 1810) and
provides a user with an opportunity to access the
television related application with hand-held access
device 24 (step 1820). The interactive television
application may run as a stand alone application, as a
client that requests data from a server (e. g., a server
at main facility 12 or interactive television
application equipment 17), or cooperatively with a
primary application running within interactive
television application equipment 17. At step 1830,
hand-held application device 24 may provide the user
with an opportunity to access other applications such
as, for example, PDA-type functions. For example, it
may support e-mail, a calendar, a contact list, web
browsing, a calculator, etc. It may support data
services, such as news, weather, sports, traffic, or
any other suitable data service. Such applications may
also be provided as stand alone or server applications
running on user television equipment 22 and accessible
by hand-held application device 24. Hand-held
application device 24 may be used as a pager. With
suitable hardware resources, the portable program guide
might include advanced communication functions. For
example, it might allow a user to remotely monitor the
home equipment -- find out if the system is turned on,
what channel is on, etc. It might also allow a user to
listen to audio from a selected TV channel, or offer
audio channels.
FIG. 19 is a flowchart of illustrative steps
involved in coordinating features between primary
applications running within interactive television
application equipment 17 and supplemental applications
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running on hand-held access device 24. At step 1900,
main facility 12 or interactive television application
equipment 17 provides application data to a primary
application running on interactive television
application equipment 17. The primary application may
be an interactive television application or not related
to television programming. At step 1910, the primary
application provides the application data to a
secondary application running on hand-held access
device 24 using, for example, one or more access
communications. At step 1920, the secondary
application running on hand-held application device 24
provides a display of interface controls that are
coordinated with the features of the primary
application. For example, the interface controls may
correspond with navigational features of the primary
application. The illustrative remote screen 1000 of
FIG. 10, for example, includes navigational arrows 1003
to correspond to navigational features of an
interactive television program guide running on user
television equipment 22. The user interface also
includes controls for interactive guide features, such
as favorites, last, more information, and menu. In a
home shopping application, for example, user interface
controls may include similar navigational controls, and
may include other controls for home shopping features
such as purchasing, information, putting items on wish
lists, or any other suitable home shopping feature. In
a home stock trading application for example, user
interface controls may include similar navigational
controls and may include other controls for features
such as buying stocks, selling stocks, more
information, or any other suitable feature. In a web
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browser application, for example, similar navigational
controls and other controls for, for example, back,
forward, home, bookmark, or any other suitable feature
may be provided. In a wagering application, for
example, user interface controls may be provided for
wagering, providing additional information regarding
wagering opportunities, or any other suitable feature.
The interface controls may be coordinated
with the features of the secondary application using
the data provided by the primary application. In this
way, user interface controls may be dynamically
configurable based on the primary application. If
desired, a library of standard controls may be stored
by hand-held application device 24 so that the user is
provided with a consistent interface across primary
applications. Controls that are specialized for
particular primary applications may be downloaded if
desired.
Another example of coordinating interface
controls with features of a primary application is
providing primary application content on hand-held
application device 24. In an interactive program guide
application, for example, hand-held access device 24
may display television programming when, for example,
the user browses listings while watching a program on
user television equipment 22.
At step 1930, the secondary application
controls the functionality of the primary application
based on the user controls selected by the user as
indicated on hand-held application device 24. This may
be accomplished by, for example, exchanging one or more
access communications with the primary application. In
the example of FIG. 10, the user may select an arrow
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1003 to position highlight region 120 or 151 of FIGS.
11 and 12. In a home shopping application, for
example, the primary application may initiate a
purchase sequence in response to a user selecting a
purchase control on hand-held application device 24.
In a stock trading application, for example, the
primary application may sell stock in response to a
user selecting a sell control on hand-held application
device 24. In a web browser, for example, the system
may go back to a previously accessed web page in
response to a user selecting a back control.
FIG. 20 is a flowchart of illustrative steps
involved in providing interactive television program
guide functionality using hand-held application device
24. At step 2100, program guide data is provided to
hand-held application device 24. The data may be
provided directly from main facility 12 to hand-held
application device 24, from main facility 12 to hand-
held application device 24 via interactive television
application equipment 17, or directly from interactive
television equipment 17 (i.e., data that originates
from interactive television application equipment 17).
At step 2110, hand-held application device 24 provides
the user with an opportunity to browse program
listings. This may be accomplished independently, as a
client to a primary server application running on a
portion of interactive television application equipment
17, or cooperatively with a primary application running
on a portion of interactive television application
equipment 17. Hand-held application device 24 or user
television equipment 22 may provide television
programming in response to the user selecting a browsed
listing (step 2115).
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At step 2120, hand-held application device 24
may provide the user with an opportunity to set
reminders. Reminders may appear on hand-held access
device 24, with both an audio alert and a display
(step 2125). Via a paging return, for example, the
device can be used to set reminders remotely with an
interactive television program guide resident on user
television equipment 22.
At step 2130, hand-held application device 24
may provide the user with an opportunity to order pay-
per-view programs. A user may indicate a desire to
order pay-per-view programs by, for example, selecting
listings on hand-held application device 24, selecting
advertisements on hand-held application device, or by
performing any other suitable function. Ordered pay-
per-view programs may be provided on hand-held
application device 24, or may be provided on user
television equipment 22 (step 2135).
At step 2140, hand-held application device 24
may provide the user with an opportunity to view
additional programming information. A user may
indicate a desire to view additional programming
information by, for example, selecting a program
listing, selecting an advertisement (e.g., as shown in
FIG. 9), or by selecting any other suitable control.
The additional information may be provided on hand-held
application device 24, or may be provided on user
television equipment 22 (step 2145).
The foregoing is merely illustrative of the
principles of this invention and various modifications
can be made by those skilled in the art without
departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.
